IT’S FORWARD MOMENTUM

We HAVE got attack to do damage says Red Hands star Hampsey

PADRAIG HAMPSEY insists Tyrone’s big score against Donegal should “put to bed” the notion they don’t have the forwards to win important games. The Coalisland defender, who played a starring role in Sunday’s stunning nine-point win over rivals Donegal, was one of 12 different scorers for the Red Hands at Clones. He said: “Our aim is always to get forward and get scores. “Pundits have been writing us off as a very defensive team but we put up a good scoreline against a quality team so hopefully that puts that to bed now. “We got a few bad results in the league but we play as a team and it did come together and now we need to bring it through to Ulster final day.” The 23-year-old admits he was buzzing when manager Mickey Harte gave him the job of shackling Donegal talisman Michael Murphy. It was a massive vote of confidence for a player only in his second season in senior football. He insisted: “Funny enough I was sort of relishing it. I am like that, you want to progress yourself as a player. “We talked through it. I sort of enjoy that buzz of picking up a big player. Murphy has been there and done it. I knew it would be a task and I was just trying to stay with him. Fair play to him, he didn’t stop to the final whistle.” All the talk had been about the youthful promise of Donegal’s current Ulster under21 winners heading into the provincial semi-final. But it was Tyrone’s 2015 Allireland under-21 champions who enhanced their reputations in Sunday’s Ulster semi-final. Hampsey had to bide his time last year as his teammates from that under21-winning team like Mark Bradley, Kieran Mcgeary, Rory Brennan and Conor Meyler all stepped up to the senior ranks. He only got 99 minutes of League and Championship football in 2016, but he was a regular all spring and got his first Championship start against Derry last month before starring in Sunday’s 1-21 to 1-12 triumph. He said: “I didn’t get much Championship time last year but I’m trying to nail down a place this year. “It was definitely a step up for us and it takes time, but this is a big statement. “We’re not taking anything for granted. Our first objective was to get over Donegal. We weren’t thinking about Ulster titles but we’ll start thinking about it now.”

PATIENCE A VIRTUE Padraig Hampsey, rear, has had to bide his time to get into the Tyrone side